Oprah Gail Winfrey was born January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. At the age of six, Oprah lived with her mother in Milwaukee. While there, Oprah was sexually abused by a number of male relatives and friends of her mother. This abuse continued until Oprah was thirteen when she ran away and was sent to a juvenille detention home. However, since all of the beds at the home were full, Oprah was denied admission. As a last resort, oprah was sent to live with her strict father in Nashville, Tennessee. Oprah began college at Tennessee State University in 1971, majoring in Speech Communications and Performing Arts, and soon began working in radio and television bradcasting in Nashville. At age 17, Oprah was hired by WVOL radio and two years later signed on with WTVF-TV as a reporter/anchor. In 1976, she moved to Baltimore to join WJZ-TV news as a co-anchor, and in 1978 discovered her talent for hosting talk shows when she became co-host of WJZ-TV's People Are Talking, while continuing to serve as anchor and news reporter. The show was a huge success, allowing winfrey to stay with it for longer than expected.
After eight years, Oprah was recuited by a Chicago TV station to host her own morning show, A.M. Chicago, which aired in the same time slot as Phil Donahue. Within a few months, Oprah's warm-hearted personality had earned her 100,000 more viewers than Donahue and had taken her show from last place to first in the ratings. A.M. Chicago was the hottest show in town and in September of 1986 it was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show and expanded to an hour. The show was released in 1986 as a nationally syndicated program. It was placed on 120 channels and had an audience of 10 million people. By the end of the first year, the show grossed $125 million, of which Winfrey received $30 million. The show was the number one talk show in national syndication in less than a year and in 1987, its first year of eligibility, The Oprah Winfrey Show received three Daytime Emmy Awards in the categories of Outstandin host, Outstanding Talk/Service Program, and Outstanding Direction. In June 1988, Oprah Winfrey received the International Radio and Television Society's"Broadcaster of the Year" Award. She was the youngest and only the fifth woman to ever receive the award in the IRTS's 25-year history. Since its debut over 20 years ago, The Oprah Winfrey Show has hosted a variety of guests, including President Barack Obama .
Before Oprah Winfrey was a well-known talk show host, she grabbed the nation's attention with her portrayal of Sofia in Steven Spielberg's 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker's novel, The Color Purple. Her performance earned her nominations for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. Oprah also had a role in Native Son, a movie adaptation of Richard Wright's 1940 novel. Oprah's love of acting prompted her to form her own production company, HARPO Productions, Inc., in 1986. In 1988, HARPO acquired ownership and all production responsibilities for The Oprah Winfrey Show. HARPO produced its first television miniseries, The Women of Brewster Place, with Oprah as the star and and executive producer. In 1998, Oprah appeared in the feature film Beloved, from the book by Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison.
In 1991, motivated by in part by her own childhood experiences of abuse, Winfrey innitiated a campaign to establish a national database of convicted child abusers, and testified before a U.S. Senate Judiciary Commitee on behalf of a National Child Protection Act. President Bill Clinton signed the "Oprah Bill" into law in 1993, establishing the database, which is now available to law enforcement agencies and concerned parties across the country. Oprah Winfrey was named one of the 100 Most Influential People if the 20th Century by Time magazine, and in 1998 received a Lifetime Acheivement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Her influence extended to the publishing industry when she began her on-air book club. The program porpelled many unknown authors to the top of the bestseller lists and gave pleasure reading a new kind of popularity. Oprah was presented with the National Book Foundation's 50th anniversary gold medal for her service to books and authors. Oprah is also one of the partners at the Oxygen Network. In 2003, Forbes magazine disclosed that Oprah Winfrey was the first African-American woman to become a billionaire.
After eight years, Oprah was recuited by a Chicago TV station to host her own morning show, A.M. Chicago, which aired in the same time slot as Phil Donahue. Within a few months, Oprah's warm-hearted personality had earned her 100,000 more viewers than Donahue and had taken her show from last place to first in the ratings. A.M. Chicago was the hottest show in town and in September of 1986 it was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show and expanded to an hour. The show was released in 1986 as a nationally syndicated program. It was placed on 120 channels and had an audience of 10 million people. By the end of the first year, the show grossed $125 million, of which Winfrey received $30 million. The show was the number one talk show in national syndication in less than a year and in 1987, its first year of eligibility, The Oprah Winfrey Show received three Daytime Emmy Awards in the categories of Outstandin host, Outstanding Talk/Service Program, and Outstanding Direction. In June 1988, Oprah Winfrey received the International Radio and Television Society's"Broadcaster of the Year" Award. She was the youngest and only the fifth woman to ever receive the award in the IRTS's 25-year history. Since its debut over 20 years ago, The Oprah Winfrey Show has hosted a variety of guests, including President Barack Obama .
Before Oprah Winfrey was a well-known talk show host, she grabbed the nation's attention with her portrayal of Sofia in Steven Spielberg's 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker's novel, The Color Purple. Her performance earned her nominations for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. Oprah also had a role in Native Son, a movie adaptation of Richard Wright's 1940 novel. Oprah's love of acting prompted her to form her own production company, HARPO
In 1991, motivated by in part by her own childhood experiences of abuse, Winfrey innitiated a campaign to establish a national database of convicted child abusers, and testified before a U.S. Senate Judiciary Commitee on behalf of a National Child Protection Act. President Bill Clinton signed the "Oprah Bill" into law in 1993, establishing the database, which is now available to law enforcement agencies and concerned parties across the country. Oprah Winfrey was named one of the 100 Most Influential People if the 20th Century by Time magazine, and in 1998 received a Lifetime Acheivement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Her influence extended to the publishing industry when she began her on-air book club. The program porpelled many unknown authors to the top of the bestseller lists and gave pleasure reading a new kind of popularity. Oprah was presented with the National Book Foundation's 50th anniversary gold medal for her service to books and authors. Oprah is also one of the partners at the Oxygen Network. In 2003, Forbes magazine disclosed that Oprah Winfrey was the first African-American woman to become a billionaire.
Works Cited:
"Oprah Winfrey" Academy of Achievement. 2006. 22 Feb. 2009 <http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/win0bio-1>.
"Oprah Winfrey" Biography.com. 22 Feb. 2009 <http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9534419>.